1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in magnetic disk drives and, more particularly, to a disk drive having a means for protecting the heads against damage due to contact with an adjacent magnetic disk during periods of non-use or shipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A common problem associated with the use of magnetic disk drives of the Winchester type is damage due to the heads or disks of such a system due to shock to the system while power is off and the disk is not rotating. This problem commonly arises during manual handling of the drive system, or while the system is being shipped from one place to another. The problem is quite prevalent in the smaller, more portable drives, such as those using 51/4 inch disks.
Attempts have been made to eliminate this problem. For instance, one attempt has been to use shock mounts for the system so that less shock is transmitted to the vulnerable head/disk interface area. Other attempts include the placement of the heads over a non-recording zone on a disk so that data will not be lost if a head does contact the disk. This latter attempt appears to be a reasonable solution to the problem; however, it requires that some data storage area on a disk be surrendered to a "landing zone" for the head. In a worst case situation, both head and disk can be damaged notwithstanding the attempt to minimize or substantially eliminate damage.
In view of the foregoing problem, a need exists for improvements in means to protect the heads and disk of a magnetic disk drive system.